Best use of AI 2025

Best media relations campaign 2025

Fraud accounts for 40 per cent of all UK crime and 70 per cent of Brits had a scam call last year. Mobile phone operator O2 currently blocks a suspected fraudulent transaction every two minutes, saving customers an estimated £250m annually.

Yet few people are aware that texting 7726 to report suspected fraudulent activities means mobile phone operators can investigate and block numbers.

O2 (Telefónica UK) wanted to create a campaign that secured media coverage for its fraud prevention work, boosting customer satisfaction, while reminding them of the risks and 7726.

Its strategy centred on deploying AI as both weapon and educator. Rather than warning people about spammers, it would turn the tables on them. Enter Daisy, an elderly AI character who liked nothing better than wasting scammers’ time, created in association with Jim Browning, a renowned scambaiter.

Dubbed ‘head of scammer relations’, Daisy worked by combining different AI tools to listen, understand and respond to scammers in real time. After seeding her number online, all Virgin Media O2 had to do was wait.

More than 1,000 scam calls were received. But instead of a vulnerable elderly person at the other end of the call, the scammers met 78-year-old Daisy, who liked wasting their time talking about her family and knitting.

The recordings revealed scammers’ tricks. For example, most fraudsters work in call centres working to a script, which often involves elevating the call to a ‘supervisor’ in an effort to seem legitimate. In one call, Daisy was referred to four separate people.

After gathering intelligence, Virgin Media O2 created media pitches, sharing call recordings with journalists, positioning Daisy as part of a collective AI-powered fight back. It collaborated with influencer and former Love Island contestant Amy Hart, herself a victim of scamming, who hosted a video introducing Daisy, and inviting people to report scammers to 7726.

Comedian Andy Hamilton observed on Have I Got News For You that Virgin Media O2 had taught AI the ‘art of the wind up’.

The campaign generated more than 1,800 pieces of coverage, including This Morning and Good Morning Britain. It also went global: Daisy was translated into multiple languages.
The video achieved more than 962,000 organic views on YouTube and 8.7m views across owned channels.

Importantly, satisfaction with O2’s fraud efforts rose 10 percentage points in seven months, while awareness of 7726 rose from 18 per cent to 26 per cent. Calls to 7726 also rose eight percentage points month-on-month.

The judges said it was a 'well thought through and creatively implemented campaign, raising awareness of one of the fastest growing crimes. Excellent audience insight and clear objectives, with a compelling and unique, creative approach, which delivered outstanding media coverage and clear, data led impact on the original objectives.’